Home of a mother, wife, writer

I think today’s blog title says it all, don’t you? Blah. Since Sunday night, really. Head started hurting, throat was getting all scratchy. Said, “eh, it’ll go away”(ok, I only said it in my head, but still). Didn’t sleep well because throat was hurting worse and couldn’t breathe through nose. Head hurting bad when I woke up. So, broke down and took Sudafed(I hate taking *anything* for anything unless it’s absolutely necessary). Probably going out on the motorcycle with my husband on Monday didn’t help(Hello, wind!), but it was still good to get out. By Monday night, the sore throat was gone thankfully, though pressure and congestion have remained. Which has been affecting my focus. It keeps getting better, but it’s time for my allergies to act up, which I imagine is not helping.

I finished the Story a Day challenge yesterday. Actually managed to write a story for every day. Yes, I’m pretty impressed with myself. Last year I managed 30/31 stories, which wasn’t too shabby, either. A lot of this year’s I managed to work into my WiPs, which was nice. If there’s another one in September like last year(which I didn’t participate in then), I’ll be doing that as well. In act, I’m thinking of setting the challenge months(April, May, June, July, September?, & November) as my writing months and focusing on editing the other months. I’ve tried this before and it didn’t work out so well, but going to give it another try. By the time I’ve been getting to my editing, it’s afternoon and I just don’t feel like doing anything. I’ll still slip some editing in during the writing months(and probably some writing during editing months, though that might be on side projects), mostly on stuff I get back from CP/betas.

I’m working on Carlos & Tereza’s story again today since I adjusted my schedule slightly. This one may be falling in the middle of the week for the foreseeable future(since I’m going based on percentage finished for now), so you get some more from that for this week’s WiPPet Wednesday. Today I have 7 paragraphs(6+1) from Carlos. Also, you might recognize these other guys from Chasing the Ghost or the few snippets I shared from their own story, My Way to You.

He sighed and rubbed the back of his hand over his eyes. Obsessing about it wasn’t going to get him anywhere. Tereza was doing what she could for Brent, and that was all Carlos could ask for. The preliminary hearing was coming up soon. They’d have to wait for that to see if the case continued or not. He could tell from what Tereza said the night before, and what she hadn’t–mainly no “don’t worry, they don’t have a case”–, that she was pretty sure there was no stopping it. But, he still trusted her to do whatever she could.

Carlos grabbed the dish of salsa chicken and Spanish rice he’d made up earlier and took it out to the dining room to a table in the corner. There were only a couple occupied tables, still a little early for most dinner customers to start coming in. But, he took in those few occupants as he brought the first bite to his mouth. And he nearly choked on that bite when he recognized the two men sitting at one of the tables. And the fact there was a baby carrier nestled in one of the mesh slings the restaurant kept on hand for that purpose.

He immediately picked up his plate and carried it with him to the table. “Mind if I join you gentlemen, or is this a private meal?”

Both Bryan and Leo glanced up at him, and Leo grinned widely. “Feel free, Carlos,” he said. “I never mind a handsome man joining me.”

Leo’s grin widened, but he leaned over to press a kiss to the corner of Bryan’s mouth. “Another handsome man,” he amended. “You can never have too many.”

Carlos chuckled as he took the free seat at the table. Bryan might act jealous and affronted, but you could still feel the love between the two men. That was good. They’d been through too much together to let insecurity throw them off their balance. “This is a new development,” he said, gesturing toward the infant carrier. “I just saw you last week. You didn’t mention anything about having a baby.”

I didn’t plan on this baby making an appearance until I wrote Baby on Your Porch for one of the Story a Day prompts(which was to rip something from the headlines, and when I read that one, it just felt right). And then because of something at the end of My Way to You, I went “That’s it!” I love having those moments when things tie together.

Things are coming along with this story, though they aren’t looking too good for Carlos’ brother at the moment. As for the rest of my goals:

Write/edit 20 hours for the week– 7 hours so far and written 5380 words so far.

In the Moonlight – 1507 words

Break on Me – 1944 words

Shed Some Light(formerly known as: Carlos & Tereza) – 1929 words so far. Hoping to get more in today, though.

Story a Day – Write 31 stories. I’ll be using these to get into each day’s writing. Except for on the weekends, then it’s up for grabs what it’ll be about.

RoW80 – Post twice a week; keep up with sponsor duties

Reading:

Listen: Already passed this round’s goal, but I have 5 books in my library now(and will get another credit near the end of the month), so I plan to listen to those. – just finished The Raven King yesterday(OMG, loved it), which brought me up to 7 audiobooks for the month)

Read: 26 books– I just reached this yesterday. I’d hoped to get a couple more in, but that didn’t happen.

Read: Storyworld First– finished this yesterday as well.

Crafting:

Knit: Entwined Fingerless Gloves

Crochet: Owl Granny Square

Loom: 2 Way Headband

A lot of blue and green for the month and hardly any red. Looking forward to next month:

Whoa, Nelly! Your word counts always have me stuttering. You are rocking this business. Any tips you’d like to share? How much revision do you have to do before you publish? I think you’ve put out several books since I “met” you.

Thanks! As for tips, I don’t know. I do a lot of plotting & I know that isn’t for everyone, but I really think it helps keep me on track, but I leave enough flexibility the story can change as I write. I usually do 2 rounds of self-revision before I send to my CP and then make those changes she suggests & send to betas.
Thanks

I haven’t tried the story-a-day, but I miss a couple of weekly online story prompts I used to do. Flash is fun, and useful for getting the cobwebs out. Maybe I should seek out some more weekly flash linkys?

Sorry about your sickness. Get well soon.
In reference to your WIPpet, your dialogue flows well. I like the way you display Carlos’s trust in Tereza. The narration mixes well with the beginning of the dialogue.

The snippet works well. I really liked the easy, positive relationship the couple has as Carlos joins them for lunch AND the way the excerpt twists at the end, right back to the baby. I also appreciated the way you’re setting up goals for the month (and tracking progress). I’ve been working by the week under the 80-day ROW80 umbrella and sometimes find it too easy to focus on smaller projects. Your post shows an amazing amount of work done and in progress. Kudos to you for finding a way to keep those words flowing despite all the pollen.

I thought I’d commented here, but it seems I was mistaken! LOVED the snippet, and see that you want to get Stained by Ashes out this summer – yikes! Not sure I can get through it all by the end of July with the challenges and Other Things…but I can try.

That happens to me more than I’d like to admit(mostly with text messages) 🙂
Glad you liked it. I really love Bryan and Leo. They are really sweet together, and Leo really is just affectionate…well, with everyone. 🙂
I don’t want you to feel too pressured. If it takes a little longer to get it out there, that’s okay.
Thanks! Yesterday was a really good day. Hoping that can continue.

I really like Bryan and Leo too. It’s funny how often the characters who just kind of take over become the most amazing…

And that baby seems to have lucked into two amazing dads. Can’t wait to see where this leads all three of them. ❤

I may find it's not so hard to work in your chapters once I've fully adjusted to my June transition. That takes a few days, and the kids and I are on different sleep/wake cycles at the moment, and we went swimming and out to lunch yesterday, which means I haven't quite found my flow yet….

I hosted sprints on Twitter for a couple of hours and managed nearly 1500 words in a reasonably short time. I'm also getting the early character stuff done for The Far Shore, which is up once I finish A Rising Tide.